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Montmelo, Barcelona.
27/04/08
2007 winner, Felipe Massa
66 laps
GRAND PRIX OF SPAIN
FIA Formula 1 World Championship
BARCELONA
After exhaustive testing the previous week, free practice was unusually quiet with most teams seemingly concentrating on race set-ups. However, the end of Q3 proved a close and frantic affair with Raikkonen pipping a surprisingly quick Alonso to pole, followed by Massa and Kubica, the McLarens disappointed in fifth and sixth. From the start Raikkonen held sway while Massa eased around Alonso, Hamilton similarly getting past Kubica. And as is usually the way at Barcelona, that pretty much was the end of any meaningful competition at the front. A fourth corner clash between Sutil, Coulthard and Vettel brought out the safety car accounting for all but the Scot. A more serious failure later for Kovalainen saw a second safety car period that bunched the field just the Ferraris looked to be finding their legs. Alonso's slightly false qualifying position did look like it would at least reap some points until his engine failed mid-race. At the end, a scant 6 seconds covered the first four, both Ferraris looking unchallenged. In a race of only 13 finishers, Webber, Button, Nakajima and Trulli scored valuable points.